Israel’s Foreign Ministry dismissed allegations of mistreatment of Greta Thunberg and other Global Sumud flotilla activists as “brazen lies,” even as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he was “proud” detainees were being treated like terrorists.

In a statement posted to X, the Foreign Ministry said “all the detainees’ legal rights are fully upheld,” and argued the claims were contradicted by the detainees’ own decisions. “Interestingly enough, Greta herself and other detainees refused to expedite their deportation and insisted on prolonging their stay in custody,” the ministry wrote. “Greta also did not complain to the Israeli authorities about any of these ludicrous and baseless allegations — because they never occurred.”

The legal aid organization Adalah countered that numerous detainees reported being denied food and water and physically manhandled by Israeli authorities. Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist, has reportedly endured bedbug-infested conditions while in detention, according to the group. Adalah said Thunberg has met Swedish embassy officials but, as of Saturday, had not yet met with a lawyer. The group is representing flotilla detainees in legal proceedings aimed at facilitating their deportation.

Undercutting the government’s denial, Ben Gvir — who oversees Israel’s prison system — openly embraced tough handling of the flotilla detainees after visiting Ketziot Prison.

“I was proud that we are treating the ‘flotilla activists’ as terror supporters,” he said. “Whoever supports terrorism is a terrorist, and deserves the conditions of terrorists… It is worthwhile for them to experience the conditions in Ketziot prison, and think twice before they come close to Israel again. That’s how it works.”

Ben Gvir further claimed the flotilla carried no meaningful aid for Gaza: “I was there, on their boats, I didn’t see aid and I didn’t see humanitarian. I saw one Materna [baby formula] and an entire wild party of people who were dressing up as human rights activists.”

The Foreign Ministry’s assertion that Thunberg and others declined expedited deportation underscores a standoff shaping the legal and political optics of the case: activists seeking to contest Israel’s narrative from inside the system, and a government intent on projecting zero tolerance toward what it labels “terror support.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)